On Tuesday, the last day before the period of contemplation and fasting (46 days to Easter), an archaic winter festival is celebrated – the merriest carnival of the Lithuanian calendar. During the Lithuanian Mardi Gras, people are supposed to eat a lot of fat food, be loud, noisy, cheeky and wild. Participants of the carnival wear impressive masks of the characters of this celebration, eat countless pancakes and other fat dishes, watch characters symbolizing spring and winter fight with each other, and eventually burn the effigy of Morė embodying the darkest time of the year. The most impressive Shrove Tuesday carnival is held at the Rumšiškės open-air museum.
